Gmail Adds In-Browser Support for PowerPoint, TIFF Files

Google's Gmail has added in-browser viewing support for PowerPoint and TIFF files, powered by Google Apps.

Users can now view these files without having to save them to the desktop and without having to buy, install, or wait for specific software to start up.

Google introduced this function for PDFs several months ago, and they have had a "View as slideshow" option for PowerPoint files for some time.

"This viewer provides a richer set of features than the old 'View as slideshow' version: you can zoom in and out, select text to copy and paste, and 'print' the presentation to a PDF document," Marc Miller, a Google software engineer, wrote in a blog post. "And, unlike the old version, we no longer require you to have a Flash plugin installed on your browser."

"I don't know about you, but the TIFF files I receive are almost always multiple-page faxes -- and the default TIFF viewer on my computer only shows me the first page," Miller wrote. "It's quite frustrating. On the other hand, our online viewer ... will show you every page and give you the option to print."

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